Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Colossal void may spell trouble for cosmology

Cosmologists are shocked by the recent discovery of a monstrous void of empty space spanning nearly a billion light years in diameter. The void – the biggest ever observed – challenges the standard picture of how structure has formed throughout the universe's history. No one's sure how big of a problem the void is for standard cosmology, but it certainly flies in the face of generic predictions.

There is, however, a group of rebel physicists who did predict the existence of such a mind-bogglingly enormous structure. Back in March, I wrote an article entitled, Is the Universe a Fractal?, detailing the ongoing debate between mainstream cosmologists, who assume that the large-scale universe is homogeneous, and a band of physicists led by Luciano Pietronero, who claim that the structure of the universe is fractal.

The standard model of cosmology – that is, the big bang, cold dark matter universe – is founded on the assumption that the distribution of matter (both normal and dark) becomes evenly spread at sufficiently large scales. Look in one spot in the sky and then another and they should appear nearly the same, they say. There shouldn't be a big hole in one spot and a giant cluster of matter in another.

The fractal guys argue that, on the contrary, matter continues to clump into ever-bigger structures even at the largest scales. It's like this: imagine you could have a bird's eye view of the universe (obviously impossible, but play along) and you zoom in to look at a single star. Then you begin to zoom out and you discover that the star is part of a galaxy. Keep zooming out and you see that the galaxy is part of a cluster of galaxies and the cluster of galaxies is part of a supercluster of galaxies and and the supercluster of galaxies is … This is where the debate begins.

According to the standard model, there's nothing bigger than a supercluster. When I interviewed mainstream physicists David Hogg and Daniel Eisenstein for my article, they were claiming that the pattern should start to smooth out at about 200 million light years. According to the fractal guys, it just keeps getting bigger.

As is, mainstream cosmologists have a hard time explaining the existence of structures as big as superclusters, but they make it work by invoking something called a bias parameter. The bias parameter is there to make up for the difference between the distribution of normal luminous matter and the distribution of mysterious dark matter. The bias is declared to be 2 – which means they are assuming that the dark matter distribution is twice as smooth as what we see with our eyes (and telescopes).

A deciding factor between the two models, then, is the distribution of dark matter; in particular, whether or not there is dark matter lurking in the voids. If the mainstream guys are right, the voids should be full of evenly spread dark matter. If the fractal guys are right, the voids should be truly empty … and huge. "If the cold dark matter model is correct, then there should be dark matter in the voids," Hogg told me.

So here we are, with a void nearly a billion light-years across that is truly empty – no stars, no dark matter. Does that mean that the universe is fractal? One observation isn't enough to support a definitive conclusion – but it seems the fractal guys, who have long been shunned by the mainstream, deserve to be heard.

The reason their ideas have been considered dangerous is that if the universe is fractal, it's back to the drawing board for all of cosmology. But as I wrote back in March, "If the voids are full of dark matter, then the apparent fractal distribution of luminous matter becomes rather insignificant. But if the voids are truly empty, the fractal claim requires a closer look."

I think the voids are the answer to the Fermi Paradox. Each one represents the result when some intelligent life form's physicists started building devices that affected the local basic properties of the universe, let's call them Snarks; where there are voids, some such species eventually their advanvced physics developed far enough to build a Boojum.

Lewis Carroll, The Hunting of the Snark:

..."It's a Snark!" was the sound that first came to their ears,And seemed almost too good to be true.Then followed a torrent of laughter and cheers:Then the ominous words "It's a Boo-"

Then, silence. Some fancied they heard in the airA weary and wandering sighThat sounded like "-jum!" but the others declareIt was only a breeze that went by.

They hunted till darkness came on, but they foundNot a button, or feather, or mark,By which they could tell that they stood on the groundWhere the Baker had met with the Snark.

In the midst of the word he was trying to say,In the midst of his laughter and glee,He had softly and suddenly vanished away---For the Snark was a Boojum, you see.

In analogy to the "Big Wall" of the mid-90's, I propose to call this phenomenon the "Big Room" of the mid-00's.

Now, if the Universe actually has a fractal distribution of matter, there will always be a Bigger Room. The thought of living somewhere on a brighly illuminated part of a fractal surrounded by ususpected larger and larger voids gives one a fleeting instant of Lovecraftian Angst.

You know, a bunch of other scientists are not surprised at all by the void: the anti-big bangers, namely Halton Arp, Tom Van Flandern, Eric Lerner, et al. None of them believe the universe had a beginning, which removes the time constraints of building huge structures and voids.

I wish New Scientist wouldn't be so sensationalist. If some data doesn't agree with your model then it's a good thing; you check the data and if it's correct then you check the model, it's how science works.Nothing to see here people, move along...

I would like to point out that even though this large void diagrees with some of the standard cosmology models, it categorically doesn't invalidate all of the other evidence that supports the Big Bang model, such as the 3K background radiation. As has been pointed though, this is always the sort of thing that scientists crave - a challenge to your theory should be met head on without fear. If your theory holds up then great, let's look for the next challenge. If not, time to change your mind!

There's a difference between sensationalising something like Bird Flu, which might cause irrational panic, and putting an interesting spin on cosmology. The latter is just going to encourage more people to learn more about the subject and hopefully encourage a few more young cosmologists. Let's not reduce science to plain statistics, no offense to any statisticians...

Let's be fair here. A discovery that has the potential to challenge the entire accepted worldview of physical cosmology deserves to be made exciting!

And as far as you can make an old theory work by fiddling and adding 'fudge factors' (engineering often works like this, admittedly), sometimes you simply require a new theory to supercede the old. General relativity did it. Quantum mechanics did it. Hell, even Copernicus did it.

The concept of a fractal universe is certainly interesting. Maybe current investigations into large scale structure will help shed some light on the matter.

I read that there is a "cool spot"in the cosmological background right behind the void. Could this apparent "cool spot" be caused by the void functioning like a negative lens? After all, it is a concave shape where matter (such as hydrogen gas) is presumably more tenuous than elsewhere, giving it a smaller index of refraction. I would compare it to a bubble in a block of glass. The difference in density would of course be minute, but the extent of the region is vast.

I'd rather agree with the fractal guys. My studies are quite preliminary but they show me something definitely fractal in black hole emissions. It looks like everything is fractal. Which is so amazing. But somehow, i feel it's right. Interesting article.

It's kind of scary though- just imagine what happens if you get lost in the middle of that void. It's so BIG.

Its possible that matter and void are present simultaneously side by side.

And there need not be just one void or one matter. We have mutliple voids (which are fixed, they have always been there and will always be there) and multiple matter (which are not fixed, they keep changing but they too have always been there and will always be there).

There is a line of thinking that says while all matter is lifeless, life emanates from the void because parts of it come out of it at different times (perhaps because of a sole reason of asking the question "who am i?" and then wanting to get out the void to find out).

These individual living parts (usually referred to as spirits) are surrounded by white light when they come out of the void. Most of them find the matter around more exciting and go on to intermingle with the matter thereby creating various life forms and complexities of which we humans are one.

Fractal mathematics (the edge of chaos) seem to describe an extraordinary number of things; foetal development (skin patterns etc), plant growth, earthquakes, coastlines, and now possibly the distribution of matter in the entireuniverse. It wouldn't surprise me if the "fractal" was deeply bound to the underlying nature of the universe. Are we also part of the fractal?

This big void might not even be there. The evidence these researchers collected, while interesting, is indirect. It will probably have to wait a couple of years until the Planck satellite flies before we can see if the void is real... And if so, then that's the time to really start worrying about it.

Well there you go we are getting closer to the fact that it was Almighty God Maker of Heaven and Earth that made ALL THIS! :)

You may all disagree and think I just do not know what I am talking about but hey time will be my friend. :) yes time will tell all! :) But the evidences is already proven just do the research.

Think about it, the universe is so huge and complex and not random in design! Or you will get all sorts of different creatures like you see in the movies. After all if evolution is all there is well evolution should be able create all these different races like seen in the movies. :) If the universe was created by itself and have such utter complex design it should not be difficult at all with creating more simple and complex life forms!! :) The whole universe should be streaming with exotic life! Does not matter where the life form is, evolution should find a way! :) After all people believe that the universe is several billions years old so more then enough time for different complex life form to evolve. :) No excuse..

If you want to know evidences that God exist or not do the research.or just try in humility speak to the Lord Jesus. :) Not crazy. test the hypothesis's.

If Christianity is not true it would have crumble long ago. If faith in something is not true it cannot stand, the evidences will show! It will just become stale, degrade and eventually die out or get totally modify to fit the current generation because it is not working.

But Christianity is alive and they are magnificent results seen today!!!!

sorry for the long reply but I hope this should answer questions about why the universe is the way it is.

Tackle the root problem and then the all the pieces of the puzzle will fall in place. :) It will be so much easier..

It did not just appear out of it is own will or happen by a mystical phenomenon or change.

There needs to be a designer or they can be no design as simple as that! :)

I don't think Christianity is the explanation for this void. What if this void is caused by a white hole spewing dark matter into space. What if this is the center of the universe (origin of the big bang) and is pusing matter outwards away from the void thus causing the void to become larger and larger.

Christianity will never unfold the mysteries of life and the universe. The bible does not explain anyting but magic and the hope for eternal life and damnation.You would think that the son of the creator (God) would have explained our existence and the existence of the universe...still waiting for his return...he has alot of explaining to do.

There is a thing that isn't understood in cosmology still, that is: the space is growing, something like: the space is being created the whole time. At the big-bang the universe was together but infinite, that means: at the big-bang there was so few space between, but there was not space out, the problem are the graphic that we draw about the big bang and the universe expansion, we draw spheres with space out, but this is deceptive, this is a mistake, there was not a space out, there is not a space out, because the universe was infinite and is infinite. Another consideration is that we think the space is passive and don’t have energy, Why we thing that? may be the space is the dark energy it self, you now can see the space is so dynamic, the problem is that we can’t see it, we just can see its absence… So in this case the universe can be fractal, and the void can be full of dark energy, because the fractal logic expresses the rules of interaction between matter and void. In fractal logic, the structures (matter-void) arise from the fractal logic self, but where are the fractal logic from? Who or what decide that logic? that is not possible to answer.

I have an idea.... What if the void was created by the death of a single galactic core. I bet if you punched in all the numbers into an equation of how much space is crunched and distorted by one galaxy that amount of space would be equal to an amount of space it takes to create a great void

[QUOTE]What if this void is caused by a white hole spewing dark matter into space. What if this is the center of the universe (origin of the big bang) and is pusing matter outwards away from the void thus causing the void to become larger and larger.[/QUOTE]

This is Actually the correct answer for 'how our space is getting here'.

But, it is NOT just this one Void as a "Big Bang"!!!

Each of the Voids (between the galaxy clusters)is a 'White hole' connected to a SMBH (E-R Bridges and Lee Smolin's "Constant at the "Pit" of a Black Hole)in the Universe level "Above Ours".

At the "Pit" of those SMBH's (Super Massive Black Holes)is a "Ring Singularity" where the Non-Baryonic DM/Neutrinos is 'coming through'to OUR Voids and spewing the Neutrinos at the speed of light"c" in ALL/Every direction...That IS Lisa Randall's "Gravity Leaking" to our universe.

SO, the universe was NEVER shrunk down to a Point/0...those Voids have always been at their distance.

SO 'space' is coming to us from the "Outside"/The Universe level "above Ours" into the Voids, and our 'space' is going to the universe level below ours, through our SMBH's to give them their space.

How many Levels up and how many levels down, there are we will never be able to know.

Also, those Neutrinos, spewing into Our Universe from ALL of our Voids, Traveling at "c" in all/every direction, is the expansion in every direction to infinity, and makes 'space' "Absolute", traveling at "c" everywhere, and are the Strings/Branes of String/"M" theory.Which is the ONLY way to make String/"M" theory "Background Independent"...:)

I understand this model perfectly...so for more, come to BAUT and click on my name...RussTor Email me at russt51@aol.com

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